'Otherworldly' gift-packs for Ballantine's

Photographer and music video producer Dave Ma has partnered with Ballantine's to launch three limited edition gift packs for 2016.

Championing inspiring individuals committed to expressing their creativity in unique ways, for its second year Ballantine’s Artist Series gift packs showcase Dave Ma’s perspective of Scotland in a series of aerial photographs.

Moving to London from Sydney a decade ago to pursue a career in music photography and video direction, Dave Ma started a ‘zine’ to showcase his work with emerging bands. Ma has worked with music artists, including Bastille and Rudimental.

Travelling around the world, Dave decided that the best muse was his aeroplane window. This started a desire to shoot aerial views whilst flying, and, after realising that by playing with the colours in his shots he could make terrains look ‘otherworldly’, his first series of aerial landscapes were featured on the Jagwar Ma single artwork for Come Save Me.

To push his landscape images of the Scottish Highlands beyond realism, Dave reworked his striking photographs for the Ballantine’s Finest Sleeve and Tin with a bold two-tone colour palette to reflect the energy of the Finest blend.

Tactile technology has been used on the Ballantine’s Finest sleeve to reflect the look and feel of the rugged terrain of Scotland. For the Ballantine’s 12 Year Old Tin, Dave added depth to his photograph with a rich blue colour palette to reflect complex flavours in the 12 year old blend.

Dave Ma says: “I was ultimately drawn to working with Ballantine’s for the excitement of doing something completely different, that would still represent my artistic style. It was awe-inspiring to see that part of Scotland, and to be able to shoot a really unique perspective of that landscape. My focus was to capture the natural beauty of the terrain, but I wanted to move the images away from the all-too-familiar green landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and give each gift pack its own distinctive look, which reflected the personalities of each of the blends.”

Sophie Gallois, global marketing director, Ballantine’s, adds: “The Ballantine’s Artist Series champions unique individuals that ‘stay true’ to their creative style and Dave Ma is no exception. He captured the beauty of our Scottish heritage, resulting in these striking gift packs that will no doubt be a great addition to any whisky connoisseurs’ collection and complement last year’s designs as part of the Ballantine’s Artist Series collection.”

The 2016 Ballantine’s Artist Series Limited Edition gift packs will be available globally from October 2016.